UNITED STATES
Al
Hirschfeld dead at 99
New York, NY, USA, January 22, 2003
-Just missing the magic
mark, legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld
died at the age of 99. He studied at the Art Student League
in New York City, then moved to Paris to join a group of
international avant guard artists. His unique pen-and-ink
drawings graced the pages of the New York Times
since 1920. His style could be characterized as a cross
fertilization of cartoons and caricatures. A kind of American
Daumier. His limited addition lithographs became collector's
items around the world. Hirschfeld's passion of hiding his
daughter's name "Nina" in every one of his drawings
became a popular puzzle for readers in 1945 and lasted for
over a half century. At the time of his death, he was working
on a commissioned caricature of the Marx Brothers. |
 Bill
Mauldin passed away at 81
Newport Beach, California, January 22, 2003 (AP)
- Bill Mauldin, the
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist who portrayed World War II reality
laced with humor, died at the age of 81. Mauldin, one of the 20th
century's pre-eminent editorial cartoonists, died of complications
from Alzheimer's disease, including pneumonia, at a Newport Beach
nursing home. In 1945, at age 23, his series ``Up Front With Mauldin''
won him the first of his two Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning.
Mauldin won the second in 1959, while he was an editorial cartoonist
for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, for depicting Soviet novelist Boris
Pasternak saying to another gulag prisoner: ``I won the Nobel Prize
for literature. What was your crime?'' Mauldin wrote and drew 16
books and acted in two movies, including John Huston's 1951 production
of ``The Red Badge of Courage'' starring real-life war hero Audie
Murphy.
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| Celebrity
Auctioneers Kevin Kallaugher of the Baltimore Sun and Dr.
Robert Russell of the Cartoonists Rights Network
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Auction benefits three organizations
Washington, D.C., USA, October 3, 2002
- The 15th Annual Celebrity Auction brought many cartoonists, journalists,
and art collectors together at the National Press Club in the nation's
capital. The nearly 250 cartoons-auctioned off in a silent and live
bidding session-benefited Young D.C., a newspaper by and
about Washington area teens, National Press Club scholarships, and
the efforts of the Cartoonists Rights Network to support, represent,
and take action on behalf of suppressed, threatened, and imprisoned
 cartoonists
in various parts of the world. The live auction saw prices averaging
around $365 per item. Besides the works of many well-known American
cartoonists, such as Paul Conrad, Tony Auth, Clay Bennett
(pictured on the left), Signe Wilkinson, Kevin Kallaugher,
Garry Trudeau, Tom Toles, and others, some international
cartoons found new homes as well. Among them Corax
of Serbia and Montenegro, WittyWorld's Nigerian editor
Adenle Adewale, and Bülent Han
of Turkey who has been in jail for the past ten years for other
political reasons than cartoons. A Clay Bennett cartoon won the
highest bid of the evening with $1,410. He is editorial cartoonist
for the Christian Science Monitor and is winner of the
2002 Pulitzer Prize. Among the most generous
bidders were Linda Smith with Andrew Hagan
and Jackie and Bob Lewis. Smith
and Hagan have been fixtures at the annual auction for the past
eight to ten years having bought a total of nearly 200 cartoons
during the years. Lewis, who with his wife Jackie kept his hand
tirelessy up all night, is a past Chairman of the Board of Governors
at the National Press Club.
Finding Aid Guides Cartoon Research Online
Columbus, Ohio, USA, September 20, 2002 - A three-year project to organize more than 2.5 million comic strip clippings
in the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection (SFACA) at The
Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library was completed July
31 with the creation of a Web-accessible finding aid and inventory.
Funded by the Getty Foundation, this project provides easy access
to information about the unique holdings of this collection. (More
on our comics pages.)
WittyWorld and Kenyatoons hold exhibition
Nairobi, Kenya, August 22, 2002 - Kenyatoons.com in association with WittyWorld is holding an international cartoon
exhibition from 9th-28th September, 2002 at the French Cultural Theatre
in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of the exhibition will be international
terrorism with a particular emphasis on the August 7, 1998 "Embassy
Bombings" in Kenya and Tanzania, and the September 11, 2001 attacks
on the US. The exhibition is being coordinated by Patrick Gathara,
founder of Kenyatoons.com with the assistance of WittyWorld
President Joe Szabo and Gayo, a Tanzanian cartoonist.
The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2002. Submissions from
all cartoonists are welcome and may be sent via email (at 300 dpi)
to gathara@kenyatoons.com or via post to Kenyatoons.com, P.O. Box
3613-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Although no prizes are being offered,
all exhibitors will be acknowledged and awarded a certificate of participation.
Also, all original artwork will be returned.
Charge
of anti-Semitic cartoons in the U.S. media stirs emotions at the annual
convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists in Washington,
D.C.
 Washington, D.C.,
USA, June 20-22, 2002 - Editorial and political
cartoonists gathered in the U.S. capital for three days for their 2002 convention.
The guests list included political cartoonists from Australia, Nigeria,
Tunisia, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua, Bahrain, and the Palestinian
Authority. The convention featured some high profile speakers, among them
Senators John McCain and Orin Hatch, Assistant Secretary of
Defense Victoria Clarke, Arab-American Institute President James
Zogby, and Anti-Defamation League National Director, Abraham Foxman.
The latter didn't seem to have made many new friends with his passionate
charges of anti-Semitic imagery by a number of American cartoonists, among
them Pulitzer winners. Foxman became agitated and reacted poorly when the
association's Palestinian guest, Khalil Abu Arafeh brought up Israeli
policy issues which the speaker felt were outside of the framework of the
discussion, and repeatedly cut off the cartoonist's attempt to engage in
a conversation. Foxman himself opened the door to discussions about Israel
when he distributed a booklet full of cartoons that were labeled anti-Semitic,
most of which were only commenting on Israeli government policies and actions.
Top left: Abu Arafeh and his State Department appointed
interpreter Ed Salama trying to speak to Foxman at the microphone.
(Go to our Focus page to read WittyWorld's
editorial on abusing the "anti-Semitic" label.)
 The convention featured a
number of panels with such titles as "Who Cares?," "Do We
Matter?," and "Civil Liberties vs. Security After September 11."
Standing out among the most active and visible were the brilliant eccentric
Joel Pett and the always relevant Steve Benson, Kirk Anderson,
Mike Ramirez, Dave Horsey, and Steve Greenberg. Professor
Lucy Caswell gave a historical overview of war time cartooning. Outgoing
association president Scott Stantis expressed concern over the dropping
of the number of U.S. editorial cartoonist jobs from 110 to 85 and called
for action to reverse the tendency. He received warm appreciation for his
hard, innovative, and effective work, and passed on the baton to Bruce
Plante, who will lead the organization to the 2003 convention in Pittsburgh.
Above: Stantis speaks during a reception by The Washington
Post. In the background, cartoons of the legendary late Post
cartoonist Herblock are visible.
Tony Auth
is the winner of the 8th Thomas Nast Prize
Landau, Germany, June 1, 2002 -
Tony Auth, political cartoonist at the Philadelphia Inquirer,
has been selected as the eighth United States recipient of the Thomas Nast
Prize, according to an announcement by the Thomas Nast Foundation of Landau,
Germany. The famed American cartoonist, Nast (1840-1902) was born in the
southwest German city and lived there until his fifth year. The Nast Prize
has been awarded periodically to American and German cartoonists since 1978.
Auth will receive his award at ceremonies in Landau scheduled for December
8, 2002. Previous U.S. winners are Jim Borgman, Draper Hill,
David Levine, Jeff MacNelly, Jim Morin, Patrick
Oliphant, and Paul Szep. The winner was selected by a committee
of previous Nast Prize winners, Thomas Nast III (grandson of the cartoonist),
and Professor Lucy Shelton Caswell of Ohio State University. Jim Morin served
as coordinator of the judging. Auth joined the Philadelphia Inquirer
as staff cartoonist in 1971. He serves as a member of the newspaper's editorial
board. He has won numerous other awards including five Overseas Press Club
Awards, the Sigma Delta Chi Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. (See and Auth cartoon
in our Middle East collection)
 Dave Berg left
this Mad world
Marina del Ray, CA, USA, May 29, 2002 - Dave Berg, the creator of Mad
magazine's beloved The Lighter Side of comic strip, died of cancer
on May 16 in Marina del Rey. He was 81. He began working for Mad
as a freelancer in 1956, introducing The Lighter Side in 1961. Berg
was known to put friends, family members and colleagues into his cartoons,
including Mad's late publisher William M. Gaines, whose head appeared
mounted, like a deer's, on the side of a wall. In addition to his magazine
work, he wrote and illustrated 27 books for Mad. His final Lighter
Side panels are scheduled for the September issue of Mad, marking
the magazine's 50th anniversary.
A new series of attacks on WittyWorld
North Wales, PA, USA, May 13, 2002 - WittyWorld's first web site was hecked into and completely destroyed
in January 1998. Nobody ever found the culprits. Now again, during the past
ten days we received several warnings from our own ISP as well as international
servers that vicious destructive attachments were sent to our address from
different parts of the world. At least eight attempts were made and all
from outside of the United States. The addresses of origination were all
fake.
Clay Bennett is latest recipient of the Pulitzer
New York, USA, April 2002 -
Clay Bennett of The Christian Science Monitor won the 2002
Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. He worked as a staff artist for
both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Fayetteville (NC)
Times before becoming editorial cartoonist with the St. Petersburg
Times in 1981. After joining the staff of The Christian Science Monitor
in 1998 he was a finalist for The Pulitzer Prize every year (1999, 2000,
2001) before winning the award. Besides his latest accolade, Bennett received
the National Headliner Award twice (1999, 2000), was named Editorial Cartoonist
of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine (2001), and was the recipient
of the John Fischetti Award (2002).
WittyWorld's 9th International Editorial Conference in the USA
North Wales, PA, United States, April 18, 2002 - From April 15 to the 20th of this month WittyWorld is
holding its 9th editorial conference in conjunction with the 11th International
Spring Festival in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Editors converged in this Philadelphia
suburb from around the world. On the picture above some of the WittyWorld
editors present (from left to right) are: Joe Szabo (USA), Joe
Békési (Hungary), Sema Ündeger (Turkey),
Rolf Heimann (Australia), Cornelia Fiedler (Germany), Raquel
Orzuj (Uruguay), Wolle Strzyz (Germany), and Jose Polo
(Cuba/USA). During the first three days of the conference they put
in countless hours of work tossing around ideas and setting new goals and
standards for the 15 year-old organization. On the second day they were
the guests of American University in Washington, DC, where Joe Szabo talked
about "Political cartoons and censorship: a multi-national perspective"
and moderated a discussion with his colleagues. Wolle Strzyz and Sema Ündeger
talked about intolerance towards socio-political images in Germany and Turkey,
while Joe Békési and Jose Polo drew caricatures for a very
attentive audience.
 Three-time Oscar
winner Chuck Jones is dead
Corona del Mar, CA, USA, February 22, 2002 - "Animation isn't the illusion of life... It's life"
maintained Chuck Jones who, among
other famous characters, helped create Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck,
and Wile E. Coyote. He directed his first film "The Night Watchman"
while working for Warner Bros. in 1938. He also wrote, directed, and produced
the screenplays for Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
and "The Phantom Toll-booth." Just two years ago, he established
a foundation to recognize excellence in the art of classic character animation.
Considered the father of contemporary animation, Jones was inducted into
the Los Angeles based Animation Hall of Fame along with Walt Disney.
He was 89 years old when he passed away on the 22nd of February in his California
home.
"Shining A Light," a Celebration
of Dyslexic Artists
Fallbrook, California., January 25, 2002. The first art exhibit celebrating the work of a select group of
dyslexic artists will run from February 6 through February 16, 2002 at the
Art and Cultural Center in Fallbrook, California. The gallery is located
at 103 South Main Street. The artist's reception will take place on February
9, Saturday night from 5 pm to 8 pm. Artist Phil Yeh who is showing
several watercolor paintings from his book, "The Winged Tiger"
& "The Lace Princess," will also be painting a colorful mural
promoting literacy and the arts from 11 am to 4 pm on Saturday and Sunday
February 9 and 10. Artists featured in the show inlcude: John Branstetter,
Mary Buckman, Tim Burns, Dominic da Sylva, Stoiney Lester DeMent, Gail,
Sterrett-Gittings Kelsey, Cynthia King, Myra Kraemer, John Mishler, Caroll
Nadig, Ed Paker, Linda Regin, Eric Schrader, Robert Shaw, Dale St. Denis,
William Ware, Rafaela Wickstrum and Phil Yeh. Lieve Jerger, who
does not have dyslexia, is a special guest artist in the show and will exhibit
her admired copper lace artwork. Dyslexia is a neurological disability that
affects millions of people all over the world. It can be as minor as simply
reversing the order of letters in words to making it almost impossible for
a person to read at all without special tutuoring. Actors Tom Cruise,
Whoopi Goldberg and comedian Jay Leno are among some of the best
known effected by the disease. For further informaion call Gloria or Stoney
DeMent at (760) 751-1127 and for information about Cartoonists Across America
& The World contact Phil Yeh or visit
http://www.ideaship.com
 Exhibit honors September 11 heroes
New York, January 23, 2002 - The New York City Comic Book Museum organized
an exhibition with an opening on January 22, 2002, displaying the works
of comics creators about the real-life heroes of the September 11th attacks.
Marvel Comics and Alternative Comics have provided artwork that
was created in the aftermath of the attacks. The museum will be displaying
the collection, entitled "Heroes Among Us" at the NYC Fire Museum.
The exhibition includes art from such comic book greats as John Romita
Sr. (Spider Man), Alex Ross (X-Men, Batman), and Frank Cho
(Liberty Meadows), Neal Adams, and many more. The show will be open
through February 7th. The cartoon above, which is part of the exhibition,
originally appeared in the New
York Post on September 19, 2001.
 The poetic dreams of a coffee lover on show
in New York
New York, January 10, 2002
- Prague based cartoonist/artist Jiri Slíva
visited New York between January 5 and 10 to be on hand for the coinciding
events of the publication of his newest book (by the Avalon Publishing Group)
and the opening of his show at the Czech Center on Madison Avenue. Both
the handsome paperback and the exhibition, bearing the same title: "Café
Fetish: Dreams of a Coffee Lover," brought
ample of the guests' admiration to this prolific and highly respected marshal
of visual poetry. Slíva's collection includes reproductions of oil
paintings, lithographs, etchings, line drawings, and, of course, cartoons.
On the picture: Jiri Slíva holding a cup of coffee
shortly before the opening of his exhibition.
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